21 September 2015: Whether people get the government they deserve or not is a complex matter to be addressed by deliberative democracy expert professor John Dryzek during the 2015 Don Aitkin Lecture at the University of Canberra TOMORROW.
Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and University Centenary Research Professor Dryzek said the often quoted idea that people get the government they deserve dates back to more than two centuries.
"I'm honoured to be delivering the 2015 Don Aitkin Lecture and will use the opportunity to explore some of the peculiar history of this claim about governments," he said.
"It has an odd association with both proponents and opponents of democracy; I'll be paying special attention to the conservative thinkers with whom the claim is often associated."
During the lecture 'Do people get the government they deserve?' Professor Dryzek will explore why it is not as simple as the saying makes out, and getting the government or system of government that people deserve can be a complex matter.
"How people can make it less likely that they get the government they certainly don't deserve, is something I will also focus on," Professor Dryzek said.
The Don Aitkin Lecture comes just a week after a major shake-up for the Federal Government and a display of Australia's democratic system in action.
The Don Aitkin Lecture series is delivered by prominent Australian and international scholars, providing an in-depth discussion of their research and insights on major contemporary social, scientific and cultural issues.
Professor Dryzek leads the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance within the University's Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis.
The 2015 Don Aitkin Lecture is free and open to the public.
What: 2015 Don Aitkin Lecture by University of Canberra Centenary Professor John Dryzek
When: 4:30pm – 6:30pm, Tuesday, 22 September 2015
Where: Ann Harding Centre, Building 24, University of Canberra (campus map)
Contact the University of Canberra media team:
Claudia Doman: 0408 826 362
Marcus Butler: 0438 447 810